“Yes, I remember. Money, power, or love. That isn’t what I was asking.” Bel looked lost.
“Is not?” They were heading towards Esmine’s house. He hadn’t planned on that, but as long as they were there he’d be able to drag something useful out of his sister.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, anyway.” Bel was silent again for a few minutes, then he tugged on Esmine’s sleeve.
“If... if there is a secret, though.”
“What?”
“If there is a secret you don’t want to tell, you try to hide it, right?” That was a remarkably long sentence for Bel. It also made a degree of sense. The question was what the secret was, and who would kill for it. Twice.
There were too many footprints on this street. Esmine paused, unsure and suspicious. An organized entrance, and a disorganized exit, carrying more than what they entered with...
He tore free of Bel’s grip and raced towards his house. One of Selette’s snow statues, unfinished, was surrounded by footprints: hers, and a set that was probably Riccio’s. Easy to trace. They left, didn’t come back, went to see something, there had been a struggle, and then the disorganized adult footprints leading away, towards the train station and the nearby mountains.
More likely the mountains than the train, as the first train since the storm was just pulling into the station. Mount Yad was a good place to hide if one had enough time to reach the mountain caves or the peak; Esmine had spent the night there, once, the year before he had met Professor Nyx. There wasn’t time enough to fetch her now, not if he wanted to get anywhere close to whoever had captured Selette and Riccio. He’d have to go alone...
“Esmine...?” Oh, right. He’d have to go alone and take Bel. Perhaps Bel would prove himself useful twice in one day. He took the other boy by the wrist and started dragging him down the road.
“Come on. We’re going to Mount Yad.”
..................
The traveler smiled to himself as he undid the straps on the box. This would prove a useful tool, even if it wasn’t perfected yet. Yebeli engineers were ever so creative with their power sources sometimes, far more so than the engineers of the capital.
His machine gleamed in the bright sunlight. A metal shell, hiding the prototype engine and its contents, slung over chained treads for better grip on snow and ice, designed for balance and endurance. The ideal tool, then, for hunting in Haz. He lit the ignition, and the machine growled to life. Good, then.
A sudden rush of movement caught his eye. A child running, dragging another by the hand. The traveler watched with mild interest, wondering what they were running from or to. The second child, the smaller one, stumbled and fell, and his companion turned to him in anger, then stopped. The traveler stopped too, frozen for a split second by the boy’s gaze, then offered a faint smile of greeting. The boy then marched right up to him fearlessly.
“We need that,” the boy declared, gesturing to the machine. The traveler smiled pleasantly.
“I need it as well. I am hunting, you see.” The boy’s Yebeli brown eyes turned darker with anger.
“As are we. There are criminals on Mount Yad.”
“I am hunting a killer,” said the traveler, taking a proper look at the two children for the first time. Something about them both seemed odd, but he had met many odd people over the course of his work. “My name is Vinsia, and I am an Imperial Inspector. Do you wish to see my credentials?”
“The Inspector? Odd...” The boy frowned, then shook his head. “There have been two deaths here: Matteo Dimali and Enrique Fenin. My sister and Riccio Fenin have been kidnapped, and they are being held on Mount Yad. I believe our goals coincide, so take us up the mountain on that.”
“Please,” added the other child softly. “You say please.”
“Yes, alright, please take us up Mount Yad.” Vinsia nodded calmly, then swung his leg over the machine.
“Very well.” The more proactive of the two made a gesture towards the machine as well, but paused at Vinsia’s next words. “On one condition.You two tell me your names.”
“I am called Esmine Besari. My... my friend is called Bel. Is that sufficient?” It was, for the time being. Esmine Besari seemed like the sort who would take well to trading information.
..................
“These kidnappers, do you know what they want?” Linna asked, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against a particularly steep bit of mountain. Tenri cleared his throat.
“They call themselves the Brotherhood.” He paused for dramatic effect, but plunged on with his description at Linna’s blank look. “Occasionally something to the effect of the Brotherhood of Justice or Truth or something similar, but consistently the Brotherhood. They are a group composed of revolutionaries and other traitors to the Empire.”
“That’s not what she asked, you trash,” snapped Lem helpfully. Tenri glared at him.
“What they desire is nothing more, nothing less than the destruction of the Emperor and the the Empire. That is generally the case, one finds, with widespread rebel groups.” Linna nodded.
“I had heard of them when I was studying, but I thought they focussed their attention on the capital...” Another inconsistency struck her. “And, Rot take them, what would they want with children? Selette has never even been out of Haz Gate!”
“That is usually the case. I... I cannot think why they are out here. If they are behind the murders as well...” Tenri trailed off, biting his lip. “How many routes up and down this mountain are there?”
“Two that I know of. This one is easier to take by foot,” Lem said, scuffing his foot in the snow. “That’s probably why they took this route as well.” Linna nodded in agreement.
“We shouldn’t fall behind. We don’t know what they’re planning,” said Linna, forcing herself back onto the path. The two men joined her, and they started walking again.
“There’s a fork in the road up ahead. If we split up, we may be able to catch them unaware.” It sounded like a good plan. Linna voiced her agreement, and Tenri nodded rather unwillingly. Lem smiled rather viciously. “Why don’t you go alone, dear sir Doctor? You shall undoubtably be able to distract them.”
“... I clearly have no choice in this matter,” grumbled Tenri, but he obediently veered towards the righthand path. Lem stopped him.
“We’ll go that way, if you don’t mind. You take the left route, now.” Tenri looked frustrated, but adjusted his path accordingly.
“I shall see you there, then, dear lady Professor. Peacekeeper. Be mindful.”
..................
The Rider, as Vinsia had dubbed his machine, had functioned relatively well for a full five minutes. Then something had gotten stuck while they were at an unpleasant angle. Esmine Besari snarled angrily and wordlessly.
“It is merely a prototype. You cannot expect it to work perfectly,” Vinsia argued, feeling rather upset as well. Years upon years of training had taught him how to maintain a facade of pleasantness. The boy glowered. “Here, something probably got caught in the motor.” Vinsia cautiously detached the top part of the metal shell to peer inside, vaguely aware that Bel had drifted over to look as well.
“... Burns?”
“Hm? Yes, it is a combustion engine. Why?” It felt like a stupendously foolish question to ask. It was questionable if the child had ever seen any sort of engine before. Bel leaned over so far that the tip of his nose almost touched the oil.
“Like a lamp. It ran out of wick. See?” He jabbed at the offending part of the engine. “Need... need a string.” Esmine cut one of the straps off of his hat and held it out. At Vinsia’s surprised look, he smirked slightly.
“Bel fixes things sometimes. You shall see. Should it work now, Bel?” Bel nodded hesitantly and reattached himself to his friend’s arm. “Let’s go, then. This path meets the other one at the caverns. It is likely our prey is there.”
Vinsia tried the ignition again, and was rewarded with the now-familiar roar.
>
“Exactly how much do you know about those people we are hunting, Esmine?” he asked as the two boys climbed onto the Rider behind him. Esmine narrowed his eyes.
“Barely the rudiments. They are Southerners, likely from the capital. They probably have political motivations and they are targeting the Fenin family. They... are probably involved in those murders, even if indirectly, so... they are traitors. Yes,” the boy nodded firmly, the bit of uncertainty gone from his tone, “A group of organized traitors from Pansey, essentially. Does this call anything to mind?” It did, and furthermore it agreed with Vinsia’s own analysis. As he had done so many times, with so many different students, Vinsia smiled thinly and asked: “... Have you ever heard of the Brotherhood of Justice?”
..................
Lem took the lead this time. He was stronger and steadier on his feet than Linna anyway, and at this point he had to help her up the steepest parts. There was no trail here, just the knowledge of where the path would lead them and snow that had not been touched since the last storm.
“It’s not much further now.” He proffered his hand from his rather precarious ledge, smiling gently at her. She hauled herself up, then froze. The path continued a few feet to their right. As she took a step towards it, Lem bodily blocked her path.
“W-what are you doing?” His smile was fixed in place, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes anymore.
“It’s quite alright, Linna. I sent that Southerner around the long way. We can have some time to ourselves.” His words made her blood run cold, and she took a hasty step back. “Careful, now, Linna dearest. You wouldn’t want to slip, would you?”
“Peacekeeper...?” What was going on? She held up her hands uncertainly. “Look, I am certain that we can come to some sort–” Lem laughed in her face.
“Oh, Peacekeeper, Peacekeeper! Really, Linna dear, you don’t need to be formal. It won’t help you, anyway.” His eyes went dark for a moment, but the next instant he was laughing again. “Oh, don’t look at me like that! I don’t want anything too dramatic, you know.” That statement was completely at odds with the current situation. Linna folded her arms in an attempt to not look scared.
“Oh? What is it then?” The smile dropped from Lem’s face entirely.
“The Imperial missive that’s in your bag.” With a slight gasp, Linna closed both hands around the strap of her shoulder bag. She had put the missive Esmine had given her in there after they had fought with Fenin, and with everything that had happened, she hadn’t taken it back out.
“What– what do you mean?” She hoped it sounded more like a stammer than a coverup, though she rather knew she was hoping in vain.
“Stop bluffing, Linna, and just give me the papers. We don’t need to do this the... violent way.” She hesitated, and Lem made an impatient grab for her bag. It gave her enough of an opening to dodge around him, only to come nose to chest with a heavyset Southerner in a rough-sewn coat. She tried to veer around him, but he grabbed her by the arms with a painfully tight grip.
“I have her, brother.” Linna struggled vehemently, but in vain. Lem smiled coldly.
“Good work, and better timing,” he replied, striding past them both. “Knock her out and let us regroup with our brothers. There is still work to be done.”
..................
Riccio had stopped struggling and lay tiredly on his side, his hands and feet tied. He was tired, he was scared, everything hurt, and it was probably all his fault. Selette had managed to wriggle over to the wall and was leaning against it. Her big brown eyes were shut, but they snapped open at the sound of people shouting. Riccio glanced at her uncertainly, but she didn’t seem mad at him. He decided to press his luck.
“...What’s going on?” Selette shook her head, staring intently at the entrance to the cave they were being held in. There were people moving around outside, but they sounded like they were talking in code.
“Someone’s coming,” Selette murmured, not moving a muscle. Three men stepped into Riccio’s field of vision. Two were part of the group that had kidnapped him and Selette; he had remembered their faces. The third was tall and lanky, with reddish hair that was drawn back from his face. Riccio recognized him in an instant, and promptly glared at him.
“You! You’re that man from before!” Elias Tenri smiled thinly at him.
“My, my. And you are that boy from before, are you not? Did your teacher like her present?” The man seemed almost pleasant, except for the look in his sharp, bright eyes. His eyes made him look evil, like something out of a storybook that involved demons, monsters, and heroic knights.
Riccio forced himself up to a seated position and glowered as vehemently as he could. It was, at the moment, as close as he could get to being a heroic knight. Tenri bent at the waist and ruffled his hair with a mocking chuckle, before turning around and loping away. Riccio stared after him. He looked... familiar, somehow. Where had he been, besides in the town? Riccio couldn’t remember. It was a distinctive face, too. Had there been something different about him then...?
“This is the right one, brothers. You have done well. We have not long to wait, now. Our prey is securely in our web.”
Riccio shut his eyes tightly, angry with himself, with Tenri, with his kidnappers. Where did he know that face from? He wracked his mind desperately for a few minutes, shaking off irrelevant thoughts, until a particular image came out on top. The memory that flickered across his mind’s eye was from several years prior, the sort of memory he had been instructed to forget upon arriving in Haz Gate.
..................
He had been in the capital, a child of barely five, desperately clinging to the hand of yet another guardian, on the way to not being allowed to see his father again. They had been walking down a luxuriously decorated hallway, lined with things and people Riccio wasn’t supposed to touch, when his guardian had been waved down by a man with too much limb and too-shiny shoes. The strange man had laughed at something his guardian had said, and bent at the waist to ruffle Riccio’s hair. His face was almost pleasant, except his eyes, bright and sharp like a storybook villain’s behind his glasses. ! “My, my. You are that little one I have heard about, are you not?” Riccio had stared up at him in confusion. “You are, you know.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, you are indeed. Now, the only question is if you are a spider or a fly...”
“I don’t like bugs, though,” Riccio had mumbled, and the tall man had laughed aloud, glasses gleaming.
“Fair as foul can be, dear little lord. Fair as foul can be...”
CHAPTER SIX
..................
Linna hissed in pain as she was thrown against the ground. The bag over her head was removed, and someone kicked her in the ribs for good measure before leaving her alone. No, not quite alone, she realized quickly.
“P-professor Nyx?” came a girl’s voice from behind her, and Linna twisted herself into a better position. Selette. Riccio was sitting near her. They both looked scared out of their minds.
“I’m fine. Are the two of you alright? If they have hurt you, I swear, there will not be anything left for the Rot!” Selette giggled despite herself, and Riccio smiled weakly. Linna forcibly turned her mind off of the topic of what the Besari siblings found entertaining. This was not what she needed to worry about at the moment.
“I think we’re okay,” he said softly. “What happened? Is the Peacekeeper coming?” Lem. They didn’t know yet. Of course.
“... I don’t know. I don’t know where he is. What has been happening here?”
“A man came to see us,” Selette offered, hesitantly. “He was weird.”
“Weird how? Weird like Esmine, or–” Riccio cut her off before she could finish, wriggling against the ropes holding him with renewed vigor.
“Professor, it was Tenri! It was Elias Tenri and I knew him before and he’s evil!” The last part of that was almost screamed. Linna didn’t ask for context.
“Alright. A
lright, calm down, please. Panicking cannot help us now. Please, stay still for a moment...” Riccio obediently paused mid-wriggle. It took Linna a little time to figure out how to move around while tied up, but she had always been creative. Also, she had a good grip on knots. Living alone, one picked up a few interesting skills, after all.
In a few minutes she had untied Riccio and Selette, and Selette had freed her in turn. Their exit was probably guarded, and she had two children relying on her, but Lem’s arrival could probably cause enough of a distraction for them to get a ways away. Maybe someone else had come up the mountain. Maybe someone had seen her, Lem, and Tenri in town. There had to be some way. She would figure it out, somehow.
“Both of you, stay close to me. And please, whatever you do, stay quiet!” Selette nodded silently. Her brown eyes were dark and her lips were pressed together. With that expression, she really did look like she was Esmine’s sister. Riccio glanced around uncertainly, but followed along, putting on a brave face. They were good kids, really. Linna was proud of them.
The guards were distracted, and Linna soon saw by what. Elias Tenri stood in the middle of the clearing with his back to the caverns, evidently staring down Karz Lem. The latter looked furious. The former was lounging as much as one could while standing up in the snow without a coat on. Something was about to happen. Linna directed her students out past her, and the three of them followed the cliff wall. Hopefully, they could make it out while the Brotherhood’s local leaders were arguing, and thus get some degree of a head start. As long as Tenri and Lem kept everyone distracted, everything would be alright.
..................
“My, my. It appears you have elected to join us, Peacekeeper,” purred Elias Tenri, a wicked smile on his face. Lem glared at him.
“I am in command here, you pathetic creature. Stand down before I crush you!” The taller man’s eyes gleamed brightly as he ignored the threat almost completely.
In the Snows of Haz Page 5
